


Move Order

by knowlee_raven



Series: Claudleth A-Z [8]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Based on a Twitter Post, Byleth knows Claude likes her and is tired of waiting for him to make a move, F/M, So she does it herself, slight angst but not much, some references to nsfw content but nothing explicit, these two are pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27599732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowlee_raven/pseuds/knowlee_raven
Summary: Modern Day AU. Based on this Twitterpost.~~move order – series of moves that is used to formulate a plan; used in chess~~When a bad storm hits leaving Claude unable to get back to his hotel, Byleth offers to let him stay the night.The problem: there's only one bed.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Claudleth A-Z [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760710
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	Move Order

* * *

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Move Order

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

Well, this was unexpected.

Claude frowned as his eyes traced the droplets of rain racing down the pane of glass before him. If he had left just about 30 minutes ago, he would've been at his hotel by now and wouldn't be risking the chance of getting soaked before getting there. At first he thought that he could just simply wait it out, but after he checked his phone to see if that was possible, he found that it wasn't likely to be anytime soon.

...But honestly, who was he kidding? Rain or not, he'd chose to stay here forever if he could. But even though that was what he wanted, at the same time, he didn't want to impose on his host. With the hours she was putting in at the university she was attending she needed her rest.

And just who was this person that had him tied around their finger? Well, it was none other than his best friend and crush, Byleth Eisner.

The two had been friends since childhood and attended the same academy together. The two were so joined at the hip that when the time came for them to graduate and go their separate ways so that they could each go their own paths in life, it hurt immensely. Neither one of them didn't want to lose their close connection with each other and grow apart to the point where they became just strangers.

And, at least he knew for him, what made that feeling even worse was that literally just months before during their academy's yearly grand ball, Claude realized how much he had started to care for her. Though the emotions he felt weren't entirely new, it was the first time he started taking notice of them. It wasn't until a few months after graduation, he sat down and talked with his other best friend, Hilda, that he finally put a word to what they were.

He was in love with her. And she was leaving soon. He had to do something.

But, unfortunately, before he even got a chance, his grandfather died a few days later, and his newfound feelings of love got temporarily set aside to deal with the sadness that grief brought him. Although he had tried to find ways to tell her before that day came, especially since she spent a lot of time with him during the funeral and with the days afterwards helping keep his mind off of the pain, but with every opportunity that presented itself to him, none of them felt like it was the right time for him to confess.

So instead, he decided to shove down those feelings and watch as just a few weeks later, she boarded the plane to fly out to her new home where she would stay during her duration of attending university.

They continued to text each other and chat through the various social medias they shared as they spent their time apart, but even with that connection still there, he missed her. And there was even a small part of him that hated that he didn't have the guts to say anything to her before she left. But, still, he knew then that it wasn't the right time. Plus the idea of not telling her in person didn't sit right with him.

But honestly, when _would_ it be the right time? For all he knew, she never felt the same way back for him. Plus with their distance, she'd probably find someone else that would catch her attention and he would have no reason to confess to her. Although people had joked back when he was at the academy that he was a mischief maker, that was a line he refused to cross.

So Claude decided to drown out those feelings by throwing himself into his schoolwork and, although it had taken a little while, he found himself beginning to succeed in his quest. That was until he saw a message from Byleth on his phone saying that he should come visit her during their spring break.

At first he wanted to respond back with a resounding ' _yes!_ ', but he hesitated. All the doubts and insecurities he had about seeing her again came back to the forefront of his mind and wanted him to just ignore that he saw the message and decline her invitation.

But he didn't want to do that to her. She didn't deserve that.

Plus he couldn't deny that he really, _really_ wanted to see her again. And perhaps this time, he would finally tell her about how he felt.

' _But what if she has someone else she's seeing?_ ' He nearly tore his hair out from the anxiety trying to keep him from saying anything. Before the inner voice could go any further and take him into a spiral, he quickly typed out a short message and immediately began searching for tickets to go.

Anxiety be damned.

After that decision, and the agony of waiting that came after, Claude finally boarded a flight out to where Byleth was staying and upon seeing her for the firs time in a long time, all of the emotions he thought that he had pushed aside came back full force. It was at that moment he knew he was thoroughly screwed. As much as he tried to deny and say he didn't love her, his heart said otherwise.

For the next few hours after his arrival, the two spent the day together by going to see all the sights there was to be seen in Byleth's small neck of the woods. Upon tiring themselves out, they decided to go back to her apartment to spend the rest of the evening.

While Claude had intended on leaving some time ago that way they could both go get their rest (plus let him sleep off the excitement/nervousness he had stirring up inside him since seeing her again), time got away from him, and now it was nearing midnight and to top it off, it was raining outside.

That would be his luck. He was sure Hilda would be laughing at him right about now if she were here. That, and she would be practically screaming at him to tell Byleth what he had been keeping from her for almost a year now. Although he wanted to, his anxiety at the 'what ifs' kept him from saying anything. He sighed. He needed to go back to his room and sleep it off. Maybe he'd feel more sure of himself in the morning.

“Are you going to try and make you way back to the hotel in this rain?”

The sudden sound of Byleth's voice appearing out of nowhere scared him and nearly made him jump. Luckily, he was able to prevent that embarrassment. “Ah, yeah. I was going to try to, but honestly, I'm not sure if it's such a good idea. At the same time though, I know you don't want me hanging out around here anymore today.” He chuckled a bit. “I know you need your beauty rest.”

The tell tale smile on her face was nearly invisible, but Claude caught sight of it before it disappeared. “I don't mind if you stay the night.”

Turning away from the window to face her, his nervous energy started to work its way out of his body by means of his usual habits. “Are you sure? I don't want to impose...” Well, there went his idea of trying to sleep off his nerves. Plus there was no way he could turn her offer down.

She nodded. “It's fine.” Her smile became more visible. “Can't risk you dying of a cold now, can we?”

Claude laughed again, nerves dying down somewhat as he sent her a little wink. “Nope! Otherwise your life would be boring without me there to annoy you.”

Her smile faltered a bit before returning. “That's true.”

Claude noticed the slight change in her expression and wanted to question her on it, but before he got the chance, she continued on. “I'm sure this apartment is big enough for the both of us. You can sleep in my bed.” 

His eyes widened as his nerves returned. Wait, when she said 'her bed' did she mean by himself or with her? Not that he would complain if it was the latter, but they had never done that before. Sure, he knew they'd stay over at each other houses as kids (and with their parents, especially her father, Jeralt, watching over them making sure no funny business was going on), but every time he did, he always slept on the couch. Not in her room. And definitely not in her bed.

Scratching his neck to try and keep his mind from freaking out, he spoke. “Um, Byleth, I can just sleep on the couch. You can keep the room to yourself.”

Without any hint of hesitation, Byleth responded. “If it wasn't for the couch not being the most comfortable thing to sleep on, I'd say go ahead. After I fell asleep on it while I was studying, I woke up with a horrible pain in my neck for the whole day afterward. I don't think you'd want to be dealing with that the whole time you're here.”

Claude frowned. Yeah, it definitely wouldn't be fun have that happen, but still, the idea of sleeping in the same bed as her had his nerves jumping. While in all honestly, it wasn't that he didn't want to share a bed with her, it was actually his one of his dreams to do just that ( ~~but she didn't need to know that~~ ), but just knowing that she was right there and with him being the kind of person who liked to cuddle, well, he was afraid he might cross a line that she didn't want him to. Making her uncomfortable was not something he wanted to do.

“Claude.”

His train of thought screeched to a halt. She was looking up at him in concern. “It'll be okay. Nothing is going to happen.” Her hand reached out to rub his in a comforting gesture. “If you want I can sleep on the couch and you can take –“

He immediately stopped her. “No, Byleth, thank you, but I don't want you to wake up in pain either. Just like you said, it'll be fine. I guess I'm just nervous cause I've never really shared a bed before with someone else.”

His anxiety screamed at him: ' _Yeah, that someone else being your crush._ ' He shook the voice out of his head. He had no time to deal with it right now.

The concerned look was still on her face. “Are you sure?”

Claude breathed out slowly to calm the last of his nerves. “I'm positive.” He gripped her hand for good measure to emphasize that he wasn't just spouting off words.

Her eyes continued to search his face ( _'oh goddess, she was cute'_ ) until she knew for certain he wasn't lying. Upon being convinced, she nodded and let go of his hand, while indicating that he can follow her to the bed in question. “It's a queen size so there should be plenty of room for the both of us. It's not like the small one I had back home.”

Claude barely heard her statement as it suddenly came to his attention as he crossed the threshold into her room that they would have to change into sleepwear before getting into bed and that all of his was back at the hotel room. His thoughts immediately jumped towards what Byleth was going to wear and just as quick as the last train of thought that ran through his head, his brain _went there_ as he desperately tried to fight off his growing blush.

Whether or not she realized it, Byleth was probably gonna kill him before the night was over with.

* * *

A warmth tucked against his side was the first thing his body registered as it slowly began to wake from slumber. That, and that it had to be sometime during the middle of the night as it was still dark out. Rubbing his eyes to start the process of figuring out what had woke him, his brain slowly started to register the rest of his surroundings. As he continued his search, Claude looked to see what Byleth was doing only to suddenly jump as he realized that her head was up against his chest.

His eyes widened. Well, if he wasn't before, he definitely was awake now.

Did...did he cuddle up against her without realizing it? His face grew warm with embarrassment. _Idiot!_ He knew this was bound to happen, so why did he agree to stay with her in the first place?

He breathed out slowly. Well, there was nothing he could do about it now except pray that she didn't think it was weird or that he was crossing a line that she didn't want crossed. That and he needed to untangle himself and distance himself so that he won't continue to encroach on her space.

But as he started to do just that, he was immediately crushed back up against her. He blinked, confused, until he look down to see that her arms were wrapped around his waist. Wait… was she cuddling him? Did _she_ initiate it instead of him?

His brain stopped working for a moment. Did, did that mean that she liked him _too?_ Or was it just a case of her being a cuddler like him? Claude wasn't sure. But one thing he was sure about was that she looked absolutely adorable wrapped up against him.

Although he tried to fight down the smile that was forming on his face, he eventually gave up. The sight was too beautiful to _not_ smile at. One of his hands gently started threading through her hair as his heart started beating faster. He chuckled softly. “With how adorable you look right now, it's no surprise I fell in love with you.” A few beats of silence passed.

“Took you long enough.”

Claude's face went beet red. _She was awake this whole time?!_ “By! You're...you're awake?”

Her eyes opened slowly, glaring at him slightly for waking her up. “Kinda hard to sleep when you're moving around like that.”

Ah, that's right, he forgot she was a light sleeper. That only left one other question he could ask. “Oh, sorry. But what did you mean by 'took you long enough.'”

She huffed, pulling away from him slightly to look him in the eyes. “Claude, if you think I didn't know that you had been crushing on me for years, then you obviously didn't remember how observant I am.” After making her statement, Byleth laid her head back against his chest. “And apparently you're too oblivious to know that I love you too.”

His heart stopped. “Wait..., _you love me too!?_ ”

She chuckled. “Yes, I do. Now can we go back to sleep? We can talk about it in the morning and figure out where we're gonna take go on our first date.”

This time, he didn't dare fight down the wide grin that formed. Did she just ask him out? Or did he ask her? He shook his head, he didn't really care at the moment, cause Byleth _actually returned his feelings_! And even though he wanted to discuss the subject further, he also knew that Byleth treasured her sleep and to have her mad at him before they barely started dating was something he definitely didn't want.

So instead he decided to return the embrace she had given him and follow her lead. Which unfortunately due the excitement of what had just occurred took him a lot longer than he wanted. But even with the sleep deprived state he knew he would be in tomorrow, he found that he didn't mind.

* * *

A few months later after their school year had ended, Claude flew back to see Byleth again and this time instead of staying at the hotel room like he had during spring break, they decided to stay together. Not only did it save him some money, it also gave them more time be with one another. Which after being apart during those months after they became a couple, they took the opportunity.

After putting some oven mitts onto his hands, Claude opened the oven door to put the main dish of their meal inside to cook. While watching him with some appreciation, Byleth sat down at one of the bar stools she had moved into to their work area. Once the dish was safely inside, he closed the door and turned to look at her. She smiled. “So, what now?”

Heart skipping a beat at the beautiful sight before him, he dropped the oven mitts down onto the counter next to him. “Well, now we wait about 20 minutes for that to cook and in the meantime we can get the side dish ready to go.”

Byleth nodded and slipped off the chair to give him a hug to which Claude returned with enthusiasm. Claude relished having her arms around him and as continued to stay pressed up against him, he gaze happened to catch sight of the aforementioned couch she had insisted on him not sleeping on the last time he was here. He laughed as he wondered how this scene would've been different if he had slept on it instead of in her bed.

“What are you laughing about?” Byleth inclined her head to see what he was looking at.

He dropped a kiss onto her forehead before answering. “Just thinking about how if you hadn't insisted on me sleeping in your bed instead of on the couch, I probably wouldn't have accidentally spilled my feelings out to you that night and we wouldn't be where we are now.”

At first he didn't think anything of her being silent for a few moments until she pulled away from him and began walking towards the piece of furniture in question. Confusion came over him, what was she was doing? “Byleth, what are –?”

Before Claude could fully comprehend what was happening, Byleth tossed the cushions that took up the back of the couch onto the floor, rummaged around in the back crease of the bottom cushion until she found a hidden tether, to which she pulled and caused the bottom of the couch to transform into a bed.

_What the-?_ Claude's flabber was completely gasted. It took him a few moments for his brain to catch up with the revelation before him. And when it finally did, he lost it. “ _Wait a minute!_ Did you not tell me about the hide-a-bed just so I could share a bed with you and confess?”

Byleth plopped onto the now unfolded bed, smirk gracing her lips. “Yep. Originally I had the idea to just send you that text about spring break to find a way to get you to confess while you were here. Either that or I would just confess myself. But as the date grew closer and I saw that it was set to rain on the forecast during your first day here, I decided to try this route instead. I wasn't sure if it would work, especially since at first you were nervous about sharing a bed with me, but here we are.”

He couldn't believe it. _She out schemed him!_ His face flushed. While a tiny part of him was angry that he fell for it, a bigger part of him was thoroughly impressed. Not to mention a little turned on...

His mind blown, Claude at first didn't know how to respond. Once his train of thought eventually caught up with him, he decided on a course of action. After making his way over to her location, Claude leaned over to initial a kiss which she returned amicably.

As the seconds ticked on, slowly the kisses they were sharing grew heated and more thorough. Their bodies lowered gently onto the bed. Just as their kisses started to get even deeper, Byleth pushed Claude back a few inches, causing him to whine in protest. “Why did you stop?”

She scratched his beard as an apology. “I think, if we're going to continue this, we need to head to the other bed. Although I didn't tell you about this one existing, I wasn't lying when I said it wasn't very comfortable to sleep on.”

“Right...” Although Claude really wanted to continue, she did have a good point. Before he could start getting up off of her though, he remembered the food in the oven. “Although…, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to start anything before the food is done. Don't want to burn down your apartment.” He chuckled at his words.

Without any hesitation, Byleth deadpanned. “Who says we can't do it before hand?” She glanced at the timer on the stove briefly before looking back at him. “15 minutes is enough time.”

If Claude thought he was red faced before, he was for sure now. Hiding his face in her neck, he tried to control himself. This woman was _definitely_ going to be the death of him.

**Author's Note:**

> ~~
> 
> _Byleth: "You know the more time you spend being embarrassed, that's less time for us to beat the clock."_
> 
> _Claude is definitely dead now._
> 
> ~~
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this little story! :3
> 
> ~until next time!


End file.
